TLOS: A Legend Is Born
by MidnightLegend27
Summary: A purple dragon is born every ten generation and can harness four elements. One young dragon will discover that he's no ordinary dragon.  Might change rating later. Rated T for blood, violence, and some adult language.  HIATUS! THOUGHT I PUT IT LONG AGO.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! I'm MidnightStar27 (you may call me Midnight or MS) and in case you people didn't bother to read my profile, I'm also known as Blazer-X-27 on Deviant Art (not sure why that's important but it was nagging me at me). This is my newest fan fic and I'll have you know that this story takes place in ANB.  
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**With that out the way, without further ado, it is time to begin the story.**

**Welcome to TLOS: A Legend Is Born.**

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**PROLOGUE**

The moons shone brightly above the night sky. It was the year of the dragon; the year where many dragons would hatch from their protective shells and take their first step into a new world. In a distant forest, there was a temple that had those eggs. Inside were eggs with various colors; some with unique designs and patterns and within each one contained a dragon or dragons with the same color as the egg. Each color would represent the element the hatchlings would bear; red is fire, yellow is electricity, green is earth, and blue is ice, and so on. But sometimes one cannot tell what element their child has because their color would contain different shading. These eggs are treasured and protected by four great dragons; each representing one of the four elements. They awaited the birth of these young dragons. However, a red dragon was waiting like all other dragons, for the birth of a special dragon that the prophecies had spoke of; a purple dragon.

Just as the red dragon disappeared into the room containing that egg, two dragons approached the three male dragons. One was a navy blue male dragon with a sky blue underside, a large tail spade and horns protruding from either side of his temple that curved back towards his spine and slightly upward. Next to him was a pure crimson female dragon with horns that protruded straight out the back of her skull and quills near the base of her tail and along her spine.

"It has been long since we last met, my brothers." spoke the navy blue dragon.

"I only wished we would meet under better times." the green dragon said with a tinge of worry in his voice. "It is times like these that make me worry." he looked towards a wall where two eggs gently rested in a small nest. One was midnight blue with a large crimson spot whilst the other egg was the same but with a sky blue spot.

"I can tell that they're very special young ones." piped the yellow dragon. He spoke so fast that they could barely understand what he was saying. "You have no idea how what kind of dragons these two are. They're practically outstanding, amazing, unique..."

The crimson dragoness interrupted. "Yes. I can only hope," she paused for a second and stared at the eggs. "...that I will live long enough to see these young children."

"Even with the ancestors on our side, I still fear the worse." the green dragon said almost in a morosely tone.

The navy blue dragon chuckled. "There's no reason for you to worry." he placed a comforting paw on his friend's shoulder. "Even when the situation is bleak, we somehow pull through."

The green dragon nodded with a smile but that smile quickly vanished when the temple began to shake. They thought the eggs were safe. They were wrong.

Fear struck the crimson dragoness when she heard the yellow dragon in a different room yelling, "Save them! The Dark Armies have come!" The whole temple shook violently as dust and large chunks of debris fell to the ground. She quickly snatched the eggs before they could be scrambled underneath a falling rock. Her heart nearly stopped when she heard sound that she was too familiar with. Near the entrance were hoots and screeches that quickly drew close.

"Apes." the icy blue dragon said coldly as he and the others readied themselves.

"We can't let them get near the eggs! They're our only hope when facing the Dark Army!" boomed the green dragon.

The crimson dragoness felt a mixture of two emotions; fear and anger. The lives of the dragon realm depend on the young hatchlings. She wanted to help but she could not do a thing about it. She felt a cold paw on her shoulder and nearly dropped the eggs. Behind her was the icy blue dragon.

"In the chamber behind me" the blue dragon motioned his head to the room where the purple egg once was. "...is a secret passage. Take the eggs and go! We'll try to fend off the enemies!" he yelled.

She stuttered a bit. She wanted to help.

"GO NOW, BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!" yelled the navy blue dragon as he clawed at a charging ape.

The dragoness looked around the room and found a large basket capable of carrying up to four eggs. Still holding them in her paws, she quickly but carefully walked over to it on her hind legs and gently placed the eggs in the basket. She picked it up with her maw and looked back at the dragons desperately fending off the apes. She hesitated a bit before rushing through the chamber that contained the purple egg and ran out the backdoor. It led to a small balcony where she then took flight into the night sky. Her wings beat against the air propelling her at an incredible speed. If one saw her from the ground, they would only see a black streak moving through the night sky. The dragoness showed no signs of slowing down until she spotted a small clearing with a riverbed and landed near it with a soft thump. She looked around and realized that this was a bad place to land. Surrounding her were a bunch of tall trees, tall grass, and behind them all was darkness that can coat the hiding spot of anyone who'd dare sneak up on someone in the night.

"_I have to hurry before they find me._" she thought. She gently placed the basket in the water. Instead of flowing with the current, it stayed in that spot and was slowly sinking. She let out a small gasp and pulled the basket out before the eggs could be lost underneath the water. She sighed in relief and started to search for another way to sail the eggs away to safety. It was when she looked up and saw a purple egg floating down the river in a mushroom cap. Seeing this sparked an idea in her head and lucky for her she found what she needed. Several mushrooms on the other side of the bank. With one powerful leap, she made it over to the other side, plucked two mushroom caps and went back over. She then placed the eggs in them and gently pushed the "boats" into the water and watched them float away side by side a few inches away from the purple egg.

"May the ancestors look after you. May they look after us all." the crimson dragoness muttered grimly. She watch as all three reached a split path. She was about to leave when she felt something cold run through her neck. She felt down clutching her throat and felt something warm running over her paws. It was blood; her blood. Shortly, she was starting to lose consciousness as he started gasping for air and was choking on her blood. The last thing she saw was the purple egg took one path whilst the other two eggs took the other path.

"_Please young ones. Be safe, be strong, and never lose hope._" she thought as she faintly smiled before she saw an ape walk in front of her with a bloody dagger and ended her life.

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**Umm...yeah. No names were given out. Anyways, I know you people can guess who some of those dragons are. I'm not expecting you all to figure out who the new ones are though. Please R & R.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Mm-hm...yeah...okay. See you then. *hangs up phone* Oh hey everyone. Midnight here once again. I was talking to an old friend of mine. Anyways, we're gonna have some new faces and possibly some familiar ones as well.**

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**CHAPTER 1**

**Decisions Decisions**

The two eggs were in their mushroom boats (mushroom caps) and they were doing nothing but floating down the river. Side by side, day and night, the water carried them through swamps, plains, and cities. Everything was fine until they approached the rapids. The rapids were fierce and showed no signs of mercy as the white water slammed the floating caps against several rocks. The caps were beaten so badly that they were at the point where they could not stay afloat. Surprisingly, they had managed. The eggs stayed close together through the strong currents. That is, until their "boats" slammed into a large rock. No longer did they float side by side. The current had split in two at the rock and were carrying the eggs further and further away. The egg with the sky blue spot disappeared into a dark forest where the water flow was calmer whilst the other egg flowed into more dangerous parts of the rapids. The water was fiercer than what it was before the forked path and had more rocks. Unlike the other rocks that were perfectly smooth, these were incredibly sharp and jagged and can rip a boat to shreds in seconds should collide into one of those rocks. Not only that, the only way the egg could continue was through the narrow gaps in between the rocks. However, the egg got by with a few minor scratches on the mushroom cap as the currents pushed it out the deadly rapids and into calm water. Further down the river, there was another river path. As the egg was carried down the river, an egg came from the path. It wasn't just any egg; but the egg that got separated at the rapids. The water currents brought the two back together and carried them further down the river.

Twelve days later, the two midnight blue eggs came to rest near a forked path. One path lead to a small cave whilst the other lead to a dark forest. Their rest would soon be cut short for the water was beginning to get rough. The winds were slowly picking up and small drizzles of rain began to fall from the gray clouds.

Not far from the eggs were tall mountains with a few caves high in the mountains and in one of those caves, there was a family of griffins. One had green fur, orange eyes, and three scars on its chest. The other had dark purple fur, hazel eyes, and was clutching a light green egg.

"It's going to be a fierce storm," said the green griffin as he sat on his haunches and stared out the mouth of the cave whilst listening to the howling winds echo through the cave. "It might be like this for a few days."

"There is no need to worry yourself, my love," the dark purple spoke absently. "We're safe from harm."

The green griffin sighed deeply and looked back at his mate and their egg. "I know, Sara. It's just..."

Sara looked up and her eyes met his. "Quit worrying," she had cut him off in the middle of his sentence, then looked back down at the egg. "Our son can sense your fear." she finished as she gently rubbed the egg.

The green griffin snorted and walked to the back of the cave and laid flat on his belly next to Sara. Soon, the sky grew dark and the cold wind roared outside the cave. Rain fell heavily to the ground and lightning would brighten the skies for a brief moment before it went dark again. In fact, it was so dark, anyone would think that it's night time (even though it was still daylight). As the cave grew colder, Sara curled her body around the egg to keep it warm. Her mate helped a bit by huddling closer to her and draped his wing over her. The green griffin was about to fall asleep when something came to his attention.

"That's odd..." he muttered.

"What is it Dairu?" asked Sara.

Dairu looked to either side of him. "Where is..." was all he could say before they jumped in alarm when they heard someone shouting "Mother!" and "Father!" just outside the cave. Both griffins looked in that direction and saw a small female griffin whose upper body had a dark purple color and the lower half had a purplish-green color and had hazel eyes. Her fur was dripping wet, she was out of breath, and had a frightened (more like a worried) look on her face.

"Maria! What in God's name were you doing outside?" Dairu was furious. His voice sounded more demanding rather than questioning. This cause Maria to tremble a bit but she somehow managed to regain her composure. She caught her breath and began.

"Father, I found something near the river that requires your attention..." she paused and stared at her father who was glaring at her. She waited for him to say something but he gestured to her with a nod, telling her to continue. "I found two eggs. Both are in danger of being swept away." explained Maria. Sara was in complete shock by these words but Dairu only sighed in irritation under a facepalm. Little did he know that she was in fact telling the truth.

"Maria, this is no time for your childish games." Dairu growled. "You know very well that it's too dangerous to be outside in a storm like that...especially when you're afraid of thunder and lightning."

Maria cringed at this. She was mad, hurt, and nervous at what he said. She stayed at the mouth of the cave. "B-But father, I do not lie! There are two eggs that are stuck at the river bank!" her voice was starting to rise. "You have to..."

"Don't!" he snapped and Maria was instantly silent. "Don't you DARE raise your voice!" He and Sara saw her eyes begin to water. Her small echoing sobs overpowered the howling winds as she hung her head low and began to cry. Sara pushed Dairu away and walked over to her daughter and gave her comforting nuzzle.

"It's okay little one. I'm here." Sara whispered. Her voice was so soft and soothing that Maria stopped her sobs but tears continued to run down her face as she buried her face in her mother's front left arm. Sara then glared daggers at Dairu. "I would like to have a word with you Dairu...right after I come back." she said coldly. She heard him stuttering. "If you have a problem with it, then I will take my children elsewhere and find a new mate." that shut him up real good. Sara smiled dominantly then turned her attention to Maria who was no longer crying. "Point to where they are young one." Maria then pointed out towards the river. A bolt of lightning flashed and it was enough to see where she was pointing at. Sara took off in the general direction.

Normally, it would take nearly three minutes to reach the river by flight, but because of strong winds and the heavy rainfall in was more than the original time. Sara was a strong and fast flier but even she had her limits when flying. Her wings were drenched and felt extremely heavy, almost to the point where they can literally snap right off her back. The wind and her wings had dramatically dropped her speed almost to a snail's pace. Earlier, she had tried walking but that turned out to be a lot slower than flying. Sara made sure she was not flying too high in the sky and not too low to the floor. If she was too low, she would have difficulty see exactly where the eggs are, and if she was too high, chances are that she'll be more likely to get struck by lightning. She was beginning to wonder if she'll make it to the river. Just then, a few bolts of lightning startled her as they struck some of the trees on the other side of the bank and they burst into flames. The winds were spreading the flames all over the place. Lucky for Sara, this had made finding the river a lot easier. She looked down and realized that she was hovering right in front of it.

"I can't believe that it took me almost thirty minutes to get here." Sara mumbled irritably. Her attention was caught when she heard a loud snap. Despite the strong winds and heavy wings, she was able to move out the way of a flaming falling tree. She watched as it fell and by luck, it had revealed the eggs Maria had mentioned before. They were up against a rock that prevented the water from carrying them any further. She smiled inwardly but it quickly faded away when the tree she evaded had splashed and caused a large wave of water and pushed them out into the raging water. The burning trees on the other side of the river dimly lit the river. The eggs were separated and the current was pushing them at breakneck speed. Sara flapped her heavily soaked wings towards the forked path. On the way there, she saw the path that led to the forest had a large swirling whirlpool. A horrifying thought came to her mind. She could only save one. One egg was being carried to the whirlpool whilst the other was being carried to the cave. The entrance was small enough for the egg to easily slip through. She came in low between the eggs. She then stretched her arms to either side in a desperate attempt to grab them both but no avail. The further they went down the river, the more the eggs became distant from each other.

"_I have to choose!_" she yelled in her mind. She was hesitant; her mind was rushing with thoughts of what to do. She realized that as she was thinking, the eggs were on the verge of being lost for eternity. She made up her mind and went for the egg heading towards the whirlpool. The raging water splashed up in her face and in her wings as she flew lower to the egg. Just as soon as she was within reach, the egg was quickly pulled in by the swirling vortex. She cursed to herself and looked behind her. The other egg was already gone.

"I'm not loosing this one now." Sara hissed to herself and went into the whirlpool and hovered in the center near the bottom. The river was so deep that she could barely see the egg up top. The whirlpool itself was eight feet in diameter and she was hovering almost twelve feet deep in it. She only had one shot at this. The egg was drawing closer as it swirled around faster and faster. "I can't afford to mess up." she muttered. Down and around the egg went. It was seconds away till it would be within Sara's reach. She held out a paw and waited. In two revolutions, it came within her and she quickly snatched it out the water. Both her paws and the egg were soaking wet that it slipped out of her hold and she was fumbling trying to get a good hold on the lone egg. Once she did, she struggled to fly out the raging vortex as it was slowly starting to close.

"_Oh no..._" Sara soon realized that she wasn't going up, but more like the opposite. Her wings were soaked to the bone and she was exhausted after flapping her heavy wings for so long. She screamed for help but her voice was overpowered by the sound of the storm as well as the swirling water. Sara knew this was the end for her and she could not believe it. She went through the trouble of flying in such rough weather to save two unborn eggs. She failed to save the first one and now she was going down with the other. The dark purple griffin held the egg close to her as she continued to flap her wings hoping that she might miraculously survive. Just when things seem to be bleak, a faint voice was heard. It sounded as if they were crying out her name. She then let out a loud cry hoping that her voice would be heard. Her hopes were brighten when she heard the voice was closer than before but sounded too familiar.

"Dairu! Help!"

Gliding over the raging river was a Dairu. He became worried and flew out to search for her. The weather seemed to calm a bit but was still dangerous. The green griffin looked up then realized that the wind was eerily calm and the rain seemed to let up a little. He figured that it was the eye of the storm. Some would say "The Calm Before the Storm" but many prefer to say "Eye of the Storm" since it's a bit shorter.

"_Where is she?_" he thought. Dairu flapped a little to gain a little altitude. Earlier, he had been flying all over the grassy plains between the mountain and the river where Sara is currently at. The eye of the storm came a few minutes after reaching the river. The once crystal clear water was now murky and full of debris.

"Sara!" Dairu called out. Dairu had reached the forked path. Obviously, he knew that he nor Sara could not fit into the small opening of the cave. So he took the other path that led into the semi-dark forest. Semi-dark because most of the trees were burned by the lightning strikes and the sky was a bit dark but bright enough to see for the time being. In there, the water was a bit calm than outside but was still rough. His flying came to a snail's pace as the green griffin looked to either sides of the bank. He was beginning to become desperate.

"SARAAAA!" he cried out. As soon as he said that, he got a response.

"Dairu! Help!" Dairu's heart began to race. He flew fast and down the river as he repeatedly called out Sara. After calling her two or three times, Dairu would hear his name being called. Soon, he realized that she was close by. He stopped and ironically, was hovering over a closing whirlpool...with Sara and the egg.

"Down here you idiot!" Sara yelled. Dairu looked under him and was mortified. The whirlpool had closed in on Sara. Her eyes were shut tightly as she was spinning like crazy (imagine a washing machine on its spin cycle but 5x fast) holding the egg up high as she struggled to stay above. "Take it! Take *Blub!* the egg!" she ordered.

"Sara! I can't leave you! I WON'T leave you!" Dairu was on the verge of crying but held his tears back.

"Dairu, I don't want to leave you either, b-" water smacked her in the face and nearly swallowed a mouthful. "*Glub!* Take it! Hurry! I-*Gasp!* can't stay up forever!"

"I can save you both! There-"

"If we die, then who'll care for the young ones?" Sara scolded. Dairu opened his mouth (beak) to speak but he couldn't find the words to counter. He knew she was right. She didn't know they were in the calm before the storm but she could sense that it was going to get a lot worse. She then spoke softly but loud enough for Dairu to hear. "Listen Dairu. You have to go on without me. You, Maria, and our child, as well as their adoptive sibling. Please Dairu, I'm asking you to do a favor for me. Take the egg and raise it with care. Raise them with love and care as I would do to them. Consider it...as my last wish."

Dairu was able to see Sara smiling weakly through her rapid spinning as she was neck deep in the water. He could no longer fight back his tears. His eyes were burning as he felt salty tears run down his face. He flew low to her and took the egg out of her grasp, careful of not knocking it in the water by accident and held it closely to his chest.

The storm suddenly became incredibly deadly as the sky went pitch black once again. Maria, who was kinda pouty and still upset about earlier, was standing beside the egg and watched the world be destroyed by Mother Nature's wrath. She had been waiting for her mother to return but her father decided to go out and search for her. It felt like hours since they had been out there. She was becoming worried but tiredness seemed to take over. She quietly yawned and her eyelids felt heavy. She curled her tiny body into a ball and closed her eye.

To Maria, it felt like she had her eyes close for nearly ten seconds when she was awaken by the sound of faint sobs over the howling winds and roaring thunder. She groggily lifted her head and opened her eyes then scanned the cave. Sitting near the mouth of the cave was her father, Dairu. She could sense the sadness that loomed over him. She got up and stretched her body and walked over to him.

"Daddy?" Maria softly called him. Her father did not turn to look at his daughter.

"I'm...I'm sorry...dear Maria." Dairu spoke somberly. Maria was slightly taken aback by his words. She was curious as to why he was acting like this; that is until she began to wonder where Sara was.

"Daddy, where's mommy?"

"I'm sorry Maria...for yelling at you earlier, for not believing you, f-for not going after the egg, and I'm sorry f-f-for..." Dairu hesitated a bit. He was unsure of how Maria would handle what he was going to say. He then looked at her and saw her eyes beginning to water. Dairu came to a conclusion that his silence was enough to make her think the worse. "The winds...were too strong for her...and to me. She was blown away and I lost her. I...I..." He lied. He was lost in thought. He did not know what to say next. However, Maria failed to notice that.

"Did...did you save...the eggs?" she quietly asked.

Dairu hung his head low then sat on his haunches. He reached to his side, gently grabbed the egg in his paw, and showed it to her. "Only one. I'm sorry." he murmured. He carried the egg over to the green egg and gently set it down. He laid next to it and Maria came and laid next to the eggs and fell asleep, not wanting to hear the rest of her father's tragic story.

"_I will keep my promise my dear Sara. I will see to that they are raised with the love and care you would give them._" He thought as he watched lots of debris fly pass the cave. Eventually, his eyelids grew heavy and he succumbed to sleep.

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**So what do you all think? Please R & R. Till next time. C YA! ;)**


	3. Chapter 3

**It's a me, Mario...*shot* Sorry about that. I was a bit random there. Anyways, I would like to apologize for what I said above the Prologue. I was talking about characters not being in my story and all and how I don't want to hear complaints about it. Well, I was on D.A. for more than a year. I had an account before the Blazer-X-27 account. I'm still thinking as if I was on D.A. People whining about how their characters aren't in my story or how I use them for one chapter and kill them (I don't do that). It's the honest truth. Anyways, I'll let you guys go ahead and read the next chapter. BTW, I fixed those words that I said in the Prologue. Anyways, enjoy.**

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**CHAPTER 2**

Twelve years have passed since the hurricane had occurred. Maria and Dairu have been able to cope with the loss of Sara's life; it was hard but they managed. It's because of her that the egg managed to hatch and grow.

One bright warm morning, Dairu was walking down the mountain path that led to the cave where everyone is living in. However, no one was inside at the moment and the green went to search for the kids; thus explaining why he's on the mountain path. He's been spending minutes trying to find everyone but had little luck and it was slowly starting to irritate him. After about ten minutes, he reached the foot of the mountain.

"I've searched almost every square inch of the mountain and I still can't find them." He growled. Dairu sat on his haunches and began to ponder where they could've gone to. He had indeed searched the entire mountain from top to bottom and found no one. Suddenly, he had thought of something and chuckled a bit. "Of course, the forest on the other side of Silver River." He slapped himself mentally. "Emerald Forest at this time of the year is a great place to be in." He stood up, unfurled his wings, and took to the air and towards Emerald Forest.

Somewhere in the middle of the forest was a medium griffin with the top half of the body being dark purple and the lower half being purplish-green and a well built body. However, this griffin is a female and she kept some of her feminine curves. She was lying on her back under the trees as the warm sunlight pierced through the canopy. She growled contentedly as it warm her fur. All was peaceful but little did she know that someone was sneaking up from behind. Only when she heard a twig snap did she realize this and quickly sat up. Before she had time to react, she was greeted with a bucket filled that was filled to the brim with muddy water, which shortly after, was followed by laughter. She growled angrily as she knocked the bucket off her head and with one swipe of her paw, wiped away the gunk and covered her eyes. Standing in front of her was a male dark green griffin that was probably between the ages of eleven or twelve and was wiping away a teardrop from his eyes. The unique thing about his eyes was that one was orange and the other was hazel.

"Hiya Maria. Wow, that mud makes you look good." he said.

"That was kind of a lame one liner don't you think?" spoke a calm voice from behind him.

The dark griffin slowed his laughing a bit. "True, but you have to admit, that was a pretty funny prank we pulled..." he was spun around and was facing the one who was talking to him. He was staring at a male dragon who had midnight blue scales, crimson underbelly, light blue horns, crimson crest that ran from the back of his head all the way down to the tail, a sharp tail blade shaped like a spade, and was glaring at the male griffin with emerald green eyes that seemed to glow under the sunlight. This dragon was a bit odd to the family. He had thought that he was actually...a griffin. A furless, beakless, and featherless...griffin.

"Seriously, that was a real dirty prank you did." spoke the dragon.

"Whose side are you on?"

"I'm with big sis." the dragon said bluntly.

Maria couldn't help but smile at this. As they were growing up, many pranks were pulled on her and the dragon. There were a few times that her brothers would team up and pull a good prank on her. However, there was one prank that wasn't really a prank at all.

"I'm guessing it's because of that little incident a few years back. Am I right, Blazer X?" Maria slyly asked. Blazer X clutched at his stomach and groaned a bit.

"Just thinking about it makes me feel sick." his face was green but he shook off the feeling and his midnight blue color returned. "So Maria..." he smiled evilly at the dark green griffin. "Any ideas on what we should do to Aeolus here?"

Before anything could be said or done, the sound of wings flapping caught their attention. They looked up and saw Dairu hovering over their heads.

"Hi kids." he greeted as he landed in front of them and sat on his haunches.

"Hi dad." they responded.

Dairu noticed that Maria was covered with muddy water. It took some willpower to not laugh at her. "Let me guess...Aeolus' little joke, right?" Maria and Blazer X nodded. Dairu simply sighed and said that he would deal with him later. "I was looking for you three. I had assumed you all came here to see Crystal Cave."

"Crystal Cave? What and where is that?" Aeolus asked excitedly.

Dairu chuckled slightly. "I thought you all knew." the kids simply shrugged their shoulders. "Come now, I'll explain as we go." he got up and walked deeper into the forest with the kids trailing behind. Along the way Blazer X was using his wing to try and brush off some the mud that was on Maria. As this was happening, Dairu was explaining about Crystal Cave. "Crystal Cave is basically what its name says. The entire cave is packed with crystals here and there. Every decade or so, the whole room would be lit by them.

"To get there, we would have to take Emerald Path. It's about an hour walk but it leads straight to the cave."

"An hour of walking? Why can't we fly there?" Aeolus complained.

"Because it can't be seen by air. The trees block the view of the ground." he stated. After that, they walked in silence. Ten minutes later, Blazer X broke the silence.

"Hey dad, exactly where in this forest is Emerald Path?" he asked.

Dairu gave a hearty laugh. No one could figure out why he was laughing like that. "I knew I forgot something." the kids gave him a confused look. "We ARE on Emerald Path."

Maria, Blazer X, and Aeolus weren't really taken aback by this and were looking at their father with a look that said, 'What the fuck, are you okay?' (this was their look- 0_o). Dairu noticed this and began to laugh some more. He finally regained control and said, "Trust me. Almost everyone would not notice it. Look at the ground." and so they did and their jaws fell open. Underneath them was indeed a path but not just any path. The ground looked as if it was made purely out of emeralds. "The interesting thing about it is" the young trio looked up at Dairu. "That it can only be seen in the day. Also, the trees here are so close together and the canopies are so dense that no light should be able to penetrate it."

"So what makes these so different?" Maria asked as she looked at the canopy of the trees as she walked. She wasn't paying attention and almost ran into a tree if Dairu had not given her a gentle tug on her tail.

"It has something to do with the leaves. They're incredibly thin and yet they have a solid color. I don't know the whole thing about them but I do know this. When the sun shines on it, the light passes through the leaves and they make the path that we're walking on right now. Emerald Path."

The group of griffins, plus one dragon, continued down the path in silence for an hour. Blazer X and Maria were carefully watching Aeolus, who was walking in front of Dairu with a smile, making sure he didn't play an unexpected joke on them. But he did nothing at all. The dragon then noticed that they were arriving at a large wall covered with thick vines. He barely noticed the darkness that settled behind them since his attention was mostly directed at a lone crystal that stood in front. Dairu watched as Blazer X curiously examined it.

"I'm assuming that we're here." Blazer X said flatly.

"Indeed we are, Blazer X," Dairu walked passed him and towards the vines. He pushed them to the side like a window curtain revealing a cave. "Indeed we are." he finished.

The kids peered inside but all they saw was darkness.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Maria asked. Dairu nodded with a small smile then walked inside. Aeolus, Maria, and Blazer X exchanged a quizzical glance then nodded and went in. Maria, however, paused in mid-step and examined her surroundings. To her it felt like something was out of place. She stared hard at the bushed and in the trees but saw nothing except the small opening in the canopy where the light beamed down in front the crystal. Her attention was disrupted when she felt her spine tingle. Someone was behind her. She turned her head slightly and out the corner of her eye, she saw Blazer X staring at her where he stood.

"Is something wrong Maria? You've been kind of tensed along the way." he asked.

"It feels like...like we're being followed." she replied in a flat tone.

"Relax sis. I don't think anyone would actually follow us. C'mon let's catch up with dad and that little rascal of ours." he said with a smirk. Maria smiled and walked up to him. She brushed her head under his chin and they both ran deeper into the cave. Little did the two know that she was indeed correct as there were shady figures standing at the mouth of the cave. Their bright green eyes piercing through the darkness...

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**So what do you guys think? Please review. Thank you. ^_^**

**Midnight out!**

**P.S.- This is the correct pronunciation for Dairu- D-eye-ru**

**Now I'm out. C YA! ;)  
**


	4. Announcement

**Blazer X: Dude just sign on and tell them. You haven't been there in weeks.**

**Midnight (Me): I know I know. Give me a break already. *I log on to ***

**Blazer X: Okay, now tell them. I'll be here if I have anything to say.**

**Midnight: Alright, good enough.**

**Blazer X: Well? Go on.**

**Midnight: Hey guys, it's me Midnight. I apologize for not uploading anything for a while. I've been busy with life mostly and very little of my story. Like I said on my front page, I am working on two stories. One is the TLOS story here and the other story...**

**Blazer X: Which I doubt some of you people checked out.**

**Midnight: Hush up. As I was saying, the other story is on Deviant Art. There's a link on my front page leading to my Deviant Art account. So if you want to read the one there until I post a new chapter, go ahead.**

**Blazer X: But he has some chapters that he blocked from normal viewing because of the DA rules. If you want to view them, then sign up, make sure you're 18+ and that's it.**

**Midnight: However, that only applies if my chapters are on serious restrictions, which of course they are not. As long as you're a teen and older, then you can view the chapters.**

**Blazer X: So until then...**

**Blazer X & Midnight: See you guys later!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Midnight: Hi guys! Sorry for the late update. I've been busy being tortured by life. I was also working on my story on DA.**

**Blazer X: Well it's about freakin time you uploaded the next chapter! Also, when are you gonna tell them about that?**

**Midnight: About what?**

**Blazer X: You know...*clicks open a folder on my laptop***

**Midnight: Oh, these stuff! Don't worry. The time will come. Anyways, will you take care of things for me?**

**Blazer X: The enemies belong to their respective owner. All other characters belong to MidnightStar27.**

**Midnight: Also, if you don't like it, don't read it. It's that simple.**

**Blazer X: *chuckle***

**Midnight: Hey, what's so funny?**

**Blazer X: Think they should know about that email?**

**Midnight: Email? What are...oh yeah. Forgot about that. I'll just post a link to the journal.**

**

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**Chapter 3**

**Trouble In The Cave**

The griffins plus dragon ventured into Crystal Cave. The place was mostly dark but faintly lit by the sparkling crystals that jutted all around them. Luckily, Blazer X, Aeolus, Maria, and Dairu were able to see in the dark as if it was bright as day. A griffin can see all red when using night vision. Blazer on the other hand can practically see every color; the cavern was dark but he can see a variety of colors. Dairu had found it rather strange; a dragon couldn't see like that in the dark. Aeolus and Maria thought the same as well but said nothing about it.

Dairu was in the front, Blazer X was next to him, and the two siblings were playfully pushing each other. Other than that, the walk was quiet but it seemed like lasted hours; either that or they were lost. Aeolus had mentioned it to Dairu but he reassured him that it was one straight path.

Blazer X seemed comfortable around. Even though he was his "son", he'd always feel left out. He was told that he's a dragon and not a griffin but he was treated and welcome as a griffin. He and Dairu were talking one day and he had learned very little about his kind. He had learned that there were dragons of many colors. Each color would represent one's element but there were few that had none. Blazer X wondered why and what element he had. Something else was bugging him though.

"Dad?" he called

Dairu brought his head down to the dragon. "Yes, my son?" he responded

"Why do I have a last name?" he whispered. Aeolus and Maria must've heard him for he heard them walk up from behind.

"I've always wondered the same. Why is our step-brother named Blazer **X**?" Maria asked with an emphasis on 'X'.

Dairu only smiled and said, "It's very special. You will know when the time is right."

"Aw, can't we get a small hint? I really–"

"I wished to be called Blazer instead of being fully addressed." Blazer cut in on Aeolus' whining. "I think it sounds a little better."

Dairu gave a light chuckle. "Why of course young one. Just remember to address your full name when meeting friendly new faces. Okay?"

Blazer nodded. He caught a faint glimmer of a crystal from the corner of his eye.

Dairu caught onto what Blazer was looking at. "We should hurry." he said. "It's gonna start soon."

They didn't have to worry about that. Aeolus asked if it was one path all the way and got a 'yes' in return. He then came up next to Blazer. "Race ya to the end!" then ran ahead.

"Hey, no fair! You got a head start!" Blazer took off after him.

"Haha. Come on Maria. We should make sure your brothers do not hurt themselves."

"Sure. Race you there old man." she took off with her father laughing along the way.

It wasn't exactly a straight line path nor was it a short one since there were a few snake-like turns but in was one straight path.

Blazer had beaten Aeolus to the end. The young griffin had pounced on him and the two were play fighting against each other. Maria and Dairu came in at the same time and saw the two tumbling and laughing.

Seeing this made Maria feel a pang of pain inside her mind. Somehow, her brothers made her think of her mom, Sara. She suddenly remembers all the wonderful times she and Sara had. But seeing Blazer made her hurt even more. A few years ago, Dairu had came around to telling her the truth about Sara. She wanted to blame the midnight blue dragon for her death – which she actually did in a way but never told him – but she couldn't bring herself to do so. Sara was a loving and caring griffin who would do almost anything to help; even if it meant sacrificing her life to save another. Whenever Maria stares at Blazer, she could see her mom. Whenever she feels down or when she has a problem, the one dragon that cost her mother's life, always comforts her; something that her mom would always do to her. A few years after Blazer first hatched, Maria always hated him and majority of the time, she would ignore him. But something made her change.

*Maria's Flashback – 8 years ago*

_Dairu had left the cave to hunt some food for the kids and Maria was told to watch Blazer X and Aeolus till then. She sat near the mouth of the cave and stared out at the vast landscape as the bright golden morning sun warmed her. The sound of grass swaying back and forth from the gentle soothing wind seemed to put her mind at ease. That is until she heard laughter echo from the back of the cave. One of them she seemed to recognise and frowned with disgust as she looked back. She saw her blood brother and foster brother running in circles. She just ignored them and stared out the cave. You, of all the creatures, I hate you the most, she thought. Maria tried to block out their childish giggles until..._

"_Hey sis! You're it!" Aeolus had run up to her and quickly tapped her leg._

_Maria didn't move. She heard the two scamper away laughing as if they had ate half a bag of sugar. She didn't want to be involved in their little game. It didn't take long for her to realize that they came back. Now they were going to bug her._

"_Come on Maria! You're supposed to tag us back!" Aeolus chirped._

_Maria just lifted her tail and tapped her brother on the head. "Tag, you're it. Now leave me be." she said icily, not removing her gaze from the field below and beyond._

"_Aw, you're no fun," Blazer X whined. "Come on Aeolus. Let's play elsewhere."_

_Ten minutes later, Maria had gone to sleep in the back of the cave. She was snoring peacefully until some noises roused her. She thought it was her father but she didn't smell any dead animals. She got up and strolled to the front of the cave. On the way there, she paused when she heard something. It sounded like...clicks. No doubt her brothers were playing around but where? The clicks were reverberating off the walls making it difficult to pinpoint where it was originally coming from. She shrugged it off and continued but quickly stopped when she heard the clicks grew louder which was followed by laughter. The sounds were definitely coming from her brothers. This time, the sounds were loud and close enough for her to know where they were; her left flank. She looked but did not have time to react. Aeolus came out of nowhere and just missed her by quickly sidestepping. Blazer X, however, did not react in time and collided with Maria. Both rolled around a bit till Maria was flat on her back with the young dragon on top._

"_Sorry sister. I didn't mean to run into you. Are you okay? Maria? Maria...?"_

*End Flashback*

"...Maria? Helloooo."

"Huh? Wha?" Maria blinked a few times before realizing it was Blazer that brought her out of her trance. "Stop that Blazer. It's really annoying." she growled.

Blazer sighed with a pang of hurt. "Sorry. I just wanted to see if you were okay. You kinda spaced out for a while." he said solemnly. He got up and slowly walked over to what looked like a large pit.

Maria felt pity for Blazer. All he did was asked how she was doing and she simply pushed him away.

"_Some sister I am,_" she thought. "_He was only being nice to me. Yet, I keep pushing him away like he's an outcast. Now I have to go apologize. It's the least I can do for him._" and with one big sigh, she went over to Blazer. He must've read her mind for when she was near him, he turned with a smile and mouthed to her, "You need not to apologize, sis." and draped a wing around her. She smiled at him. Maria knew that he was a kind-hearted and was willing to let actions like what she did slip by. Although, she could still see the hurt hidden behind his smile. Before she could speak, Dairu spoke first.

"It should happen at any second now," he turned his gaze to the younglings. "Before you were laid as an egg, Maria, your mother and I would come here early to watch what happens."

"What happened?" she asked.

"You'll know very soon. It should happen...now."

As if on cue, the darkness in the room was slowly lifting away by glowing crystals. The crystals were glowing brighter ad brighter. When the room was bright enough, everyone noticed that they were at a four way intersection. To the three youngsters, they were surprised by what was in the middle. The faint outline of a PERFECTLY CLEAR crystal – it was as if it wasn't there at all – gleamed near the top. Then, there were soft rumbling that didn't do much but startle the kids. It didn't last long. Aeolus was the first to notice the light fade away.

"Father, was that supposed to happen?" Aeolus asked, sounding a bit timid.

Dairu replied with a quick "No" then told them to stay quiet. Something was not right and he hoped that it wasn't anything that might be dangerous as he listened out for any suspicious sounds. None were heard and he didn't feel any quakes, which made him curious.

"That's odd. I know you all felt that, but I can't help but think that something is–" Dairu suddenly let out an agonizing screech that made everyone jump. Aeolus, Maria, and Blazer were horrified not from Dairu's screech, but from what they saw when he fell. There was a large battle axe stuck in his spine between his wings and blood was running down his sides. They rushed to him and tried to remove it.

"N-No, leave it." Dairu grunted.

"But..." Maria began

"If you remove it, I-I'll *cough* die faster."

"No! I won't believe that!" she snapped.

"Maria, calm down!" Blazer yelled. Before he could react he was knocked on his back and was pinned by an angry Maria.

"Don't tell me what to do you lizard!" she snarled as she brought her face dangerously close to his.

Blazer was taken aback by her actions. Yet, even though it looked like she was going to kill him, he stayed calm and spoke, "Maria, I know this is hard on you but I'm telling you the truth. Dad won't survive much longer. If he lives, then he'll just be paralysed and..." Blazer grunted when Maria slashed his left cheek, leaving three bloody slash marks. This didn't stop him as he continued, "...and I'm sorry. We can't do anything. Whoever threw..." he didn't get far when she stomped on his groin with her hind leg, eliciting a yelp. The dragon groaned in pain for she did it real hard. Aeolus was about to help Maria off but Blazer saw this and mouth the word "No" to him. "Maria, I may not exactly know what it's like to lose someone that you care about, but know this, you can blame me, you can hate me, you can do whatever you want with me, but I will still love you like Aeolus does. You have other people that are alive and are willing to help you. Aeolus is one of them and so am I. I'm willing to help my favourite sister no matter what happens to me." Blazer finished.

Maria's face seemed to loosen as she was on the verge of crying. However, an unfamiliar sound of screams and hoots startled them. She got off Blazer then shifted her head left and right trying to locate where it was coming from. As it got closer, she was able to tell that they were surrounded but the question is: by what? She looked the direction where the axe came from and she could've sworn she saw something.

"What is it?" Blazer asked.

"I don't know, but it scares me." her voice trembled.

Then out of nowhere, several hideous hairy creature surrounded them. They wore white armour and carried a shield and a few other weapons such as swords, daggers, spiked-maces, and battle axes much like the one sticking in the back of the dying griffin Dairu. They had a long face and broad bodies. They hooted and hollered as they jumped up and down waving their weapons in the air whilst some either bashed their weapons against their shield or on the ground. Their actions seemed to frighten the purple griffin. She bore a determined look but inside she was too nervous to think clearly. Even Aeolus was taken aback by what is happening.

"Maria! Aeolus! Surround dad, quick!" Blazer ordered.

Neither one knew what he was up to but they did not bother to argue and did what he said. Blazer quickly joined them. He knew that if they did not do something or at least try, they would die. He was scared yet at the same time, determined and confident. Those two things were clearly seen in his eyes.

Maria had stole a quick glance at the young dragon and saw the fire burn in his eyes. It was then she finally caught on to what he was thinking. They were going to fight. Father never taught them how to fight properly. Now she fears of what the consequences will be. She then stole a quick glance at her Aeolus. He seemed calm and collected. It was almost as if he knew what he was doing. But now that Maria thinks about it, they were going to die either way, but they were going to kill a few of these creature in the process. Her attention was caught when she heard a voice.

"Silence!" whoever had said that made the creatures cease their actions.

Maria looked to her left and saw the creatures move aside for their leader. The leader was too easy to identify. It look the same as the other creatures except it wore a bright orange armour and wielded a large sword.

"Such determination," it was referring to Blazer X. "It shows no fear of death. You must be really stupid if you think you can fight us, you purple whelp."

"Who or what are you guys!" Blazer exclaimed more than asked.

"I suppose I should tell you since you are all going to die anyway. We are apes. That is all we are going to tell you." the leader snorted.

"Well you're either really dumb or simply color blind. I'm not a purple dragon. I'm a midnight blue."

The leader only grunted and cast a deadly glare at him. "No matter, we shall kill you where you stand," the ape leader looked at Aeolus and Maria. "As well as those freaks. All of you shall end up like him." he raised his sword and pointed it at Dairu who was watching with half closed eyes.

Dairu felt helpless. All he could do was lie quietly on his stomach and watch what was about to happen.

The ape leader raised his sword and brought it down as he yell three words.

"Slay them all!"

As the order was given, Blazer unfurled his wings to their max. He spread his forearms and hind legs apart and bared his teeth. He and the two sibling slowly moved closer to Dairu as the apes slowly closed in on the trio. He heard Maria call his name.

"What do we do?" she nervously inquired.

"We fight!" Blazer blurted.

"But we don't know how!"

"Then we'll just die trying!" Aeolus snapped.

His sudden outburst surprised both Maria and Blazer. Never have they heard him talk like that. The Aeolus they knew was funny, crazy, and noisy. This one was different. They simply shook it off.

Maria, despite her fears, she knew that her brothers were right. They either fight or die trying.

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**Hmm...seems like something went wrong in the past. What did Maria do? Will she and her brothers escape from this predicament?**

**Only time will tell...  
**


	6. Chapter 6

**Me: Blazer? Blazer X? Where are you?**

***checks bedroom***

**Me: Not in here...**

***checks living room***

**Me: Where the hell is that dragon at?**

***checks kitchen***

**Me: *sigh* Where is...huh? *finds a note***

**Midnight, gone to pay my respects. Blazer X**

**P.S. – Midnight is the owner of all the OC's and the story.**

**Me: Well, better go find him. You readers out there enjoy this chapter.**

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**Chapter 4**

**Fights, Sacrifice, and Escape!**

The apes were relentless, but they were quite predictable to the young trio. The hairy monsters blindly charged to attack but ended up resting in their pool of blood. The cave had erupted with battle cries and bloodcurdling screams from the apes.

"What are you idiots doing? Kill them already!" the leader shouted.

In the middle, Blazer, Aeolus, and Maria were doing better than they expected. Once in a while Dairu – still struggling to stay alive – would give short but quick advices about what to do and mostly give them a heads up when an ape or two would try to kill the kids from behind. Blazer's scales and talons were stained by ape blood. His teeth would have small traces of blood because he kept spitting out hair whenever he sunk his teeth in the enemy. He was holding his own despite the bruises and very little amounts of small cuts he received.

Aeolus was pretty much the same as his foster brother. His green fur was sticky from all the blood that splattered on him. His face was covered with ape blood. He'd sometimes use his beak to either peck their eyes out or peck a big hole their skull with one powerful movement. His talons were stained as well. However, he and to refrain from constantly using them. In battle, griffin talons can wear out faster than dragon talons but they were easy to sharpen. Aeolus did have a few minor bleeding cuts and bruises but with his body covered with fur, they went unnoticed.

Maria was surprised by what is happening. Her brothers were pulling tricks out from under their wings. She was also scared; scared of what might happen if either she or her brothers made one mistake that would cost them their lives. That and the fact that Dairu might die in the heat of battle and would no longer help them in this fight. She had lost small patches of fur and received minor cuts. She wasn't as messy as Blazer and Aeolus. In fact, since the upper half of her body was a dark color, blood was difficult to see.

"Ha! These guys are too easy!" she heard Aeolus shout.

"Aeolus, don't get to cocky!" she interjected as she ducked under a swing from a spiked mace. Maria took advantage of the position and struck the ape in the stomach with her fist. It made no sound for the wind was knocked out the savage creature and leaned over clutching its stomach. She reared back then brought her paws down on the stunned ape, thus crushing its skull into dust.

"Hey sis, is it me or is majority of these guys targeting Blazer?" Aeolus questioned.

"Why do you ask that?"

"The number of kills. Blazer killed almost half of these apes while we only killed half the amount he killed." he stated

Blazer heard the whole thing from an earshot. His brother was right. The two griffins weren't doing that much fighting since the apes were mostly coming after him. One question popped up in his mind. _Why?_ He knew they wanted him dead for some unknown reason but the way the apes were fighting, something wasn't right about all of this. His thoughts didn't last long when he heard his father.

"Blazer...behind you!"

When he heard this, he had already avoided being sliced in two from an axe. It became stuck in the ground. The dark blue dragon saw the ape struggling to free its axe. He wasted no time and slashed at its neck, killing it in a heartbeat. Blazer ignored the blood that splashed his face as he faced another ape. He sidestepped from a downward sword slash then struck the back of its head then at the waist. It stumbled back then growl in anger before it went at him with a horizontal slash. The young dragon ducked under it then hit it in the gut with his wing. The ape keeled over and received a hard knock in the back of the head. The ape backed away from Blazer and is now really pissed off at him. It thrusted the sword...and missed. Blazer wasn't sure why it missed him but he didn't care for he noticed the slight pause after the thrust. He clamped down on the apes wrist and twisted it until he heard a loud POP. A shrill scream came from the ape when its whole arm snapped. Blazer slammed a paw in the ape's hamstring while keeping his hold as it fell on one knee. The dark blue dragon then leaped in the air, slightly loosening his hold, and finally kicked its face, sending it tumbling head over heels into a horde of its comrades that were making their way towards the young dragon. Blazer looked from the corner of his right eye and saw an ape charging at him with a dagger hand. He leaped in the air once more and curled his body into a tight ball. He then executed what was probably the fastest rolling somersault and split the ape down the middle with his tail blade. Blazer smirked at his work.

"I've always wanted to do that." he muttered to himself. He simply touched the ape and watched it fall to either side in a bloody mess. He then returned to the fray.

It was so fast that the leader was left speechless. It saw Blazer first curl himself up as a ball in mid-air then it sees him stretched out in mid-air, back facing the ground before he righted himself and landed on all four. The leader knew that dragons were good fighters but this was indescribable.

"Graunx!" the leader shouted.

An ape the same size as the leader approached. This one was white and wore thick metal armour of the same color but it carried a gray shield. Around the waist was a black belt with several dynamite sticks strapped on. On the back were two scimitars with leather sheaths. He can to a quick halt and saluted the leader.

"Take care of them! I gotta report to Cynder!"

"Sir, might I suggest you not tell her about this one. Cynder is seeing that the plan is complete." Graunx interjected.

"You want me to let this go untold?"

"No, sir. I have a better plan. Tell the other one about this."

The leader felt a deadly shiver run through the spine. "Have you lost your mind?"

"I know what you speak of sir, but it is wise that we not anger Cynder with more than she can burden."

The leader growled in frustration but mostly in fear. Graunx seemed to notice this but remained silent.

"Alright, take care of them Graunx. You know what to do."

In the middle of the fray, Blazer had spotted the leader fleeing. He wanted to chase down the ape and do nothing but tear it to shreds. His attention was brought back when he heard one of the hideous soldiers scream. What confused him the most was when suddenly started backing away from him, Aeolus, and Maria. Something wasn't right about this. He eyed Maria who was doing the same to him. She must've read his eye for she had the same suspicion. They faced the hairy bipedals once more. The griffins and dragon were taken aback when the apes leaped forward with their shrill cries and landed right in front of the trio, causing them to take a few steps back. The apes leapt back to their original spots and watched with evil eyes. The trio raised a brow at their...weird actions.

Aeolus' eyes rolled left and right in his sockets. Something had happened in that little performance. Nothing was out the ordinary. However, he did spot one ape in the back of the group. It snickered as its eyes barely looked down, as if it was looking under them. He looked under him and his heart dropped. A stick of dynamite...with a short fuse!

"Maria! Blazer! Under you!" he shouted.

They looked down and saw the same thing. They jumped back but were a hair too late. The blast sent them flying into the walls. Blazer fell to the ground with signs that he remained conscious. He struggled to stand but he only had enough strength to hold his upper body. He winced in pain as he strained himself to stay like that. The explosion gave him a small burn mark on his chest and his left shoulder had a medium burn but was colored with blood slowly flowing freely from it. Blazer heard the apes cheering victoriously which was silenced in an instant. Heavy footsteps touched down on the ground slowly grew with each step.

"Well, what do we have here? Who would've thought that the mighty purple dragon would be defeated easily by a stick of dynamite?" Graunx broke out in laughter. The others followed him but they stopped when barked at them. "Now then, where was I? Oh yes, I was about to kill you." He pulled out a scimitar from his sheath. The blade was a rust color and the hilt was gold. There were no patterns or unique designs. It was a plain scimitar.

A low growl resided in Blazer's throat as he watched the ape twirl the curved blade with his fingers. He saw an evil smile work its way across Graunx's face.

"O-Obviously you didn't...hear me before. I'm not purple." Blazer's voice was weak due to exhaustion and possibly the loss of blood. He wailed in agony as he was kicked right in the open wound in his shoulder. He fell to the side, tightly grasping his shoulder. The pain had intensified ten-fold when he was struck again in the same spot and almost caused him to pass out.

"I don't care if you're blue, gay, or smart. You and those fools are nothing more but filth in this world." he loomed over the injured dragon.

When he said "those fools", he had been referring to the griffins. Blazer looked behind the white ape. His hope fell when he saw two unconscious griffins sprawled across the floor. Over to the right, Dairu remained still. It was difficult to tell if he was alive or not but he could see that the left eye was half closed. The axe remained was still wedged in his back and the bleeding seemed to have stopped; at least that's what it looked like from where Blazer was. His eyes fell back to Graunx who now stood right in front of Blazer's snout that it was almost touching the ape's foot.

"You'll make a good meal for my fellow comrades," Graunx raised his scimitar over his head. "And a nice trophy to mount on my wall."

Blazer knew this was it for him. There was nothing he could do. He closed his eyes and waited for his life to end. It never came. He slowly opened his eyes. They went wide at the first thing he saw. Dairu was on a rampage. He was killing apes left and right. Graunx was swatted away by his paw.

"Stay away from my sons and daughter." he spoke in a very icy tone. At this point, the small apes charged at him. He didn't even bother to move out the way. As they came closer, he eyed Blazer who was trying to say something but couldn't say a thing due to the excruciating pain. Dairu, with his massive beak, bit off an ape's head. The griffin took in as much air as he can get through his nostrils and spat it in the face of one of its comrades with such force that it knocked their head clean off. Two apes tried to flank him from the left but were sent flying by a powerful backhand. One ape managed to jump on his back and repeatedly stabbed him. Dairu managed to resist the urge to elicit a shrill of pain. Luckily, no vital spots were targeted. He tried to shake the vermin off his back but it held on tight. On top of that, the battle axe that was still in his back sent a painful irritating feeling through him every time he tried to shake the ape loose. Things went from bad to worse (more like worse to terrible) as more apes began to latch on and the adult griffin couldn't help but let out a bloodcurdling scream as he was stabbed continuously.

At this point, Blazer had struggled to stand on all four. Aeolus and Maria were still unconscious yet not a single ape was near them. He looked to his father who was now tearing the apes off him; at least the ones he could reach for. The dark blue dragon took a weary step. His legs began to shake. They couldn't support his weight and they buckled, making him hit the floor with a grunt. He shook his head and tried to stand. He then felt his body being restrained by apes. A few seconds later, he heard a loud thud as if something fell to the ground hard. He looked up and saw that it was Dairu who hit the ground. The sight of his condition made Blazer sick to his stomach. The axe combined with the fresh bleeding multiple stab wounds as well as the large open gash on the underbelly exposing the griffin's entrails was truly sickening. He couldn't help but mutter "Father". Only when an ape said spoke out did he realise his mistake.

"Graunx, I think that bird is this dragon's father."

"Foster child?" Graunx sounding rather surprised. An evil smile slowly spread across his ugly face. He walked over to Blazer grabbed his maw and lifted his face so that he was staring at the ape. "Well, for a whelping like you, I got a special surprise for you. But first, I'll need to **sharpen** my weapon."

Blazer just looked at him with a questioning look. His eyes suddenly widen with horror when Graunx slowly walked over to the two unconscious griffins. The dragon was drained yet he struggled to break the tight grips but had no success. He felt the hilt of a weapon behind his head which stunned him for a quick second. He tried to fight back but was helpless in his current situation. As he watched the big ape move closer to his siblings, he felt something swelling inside him. He didn't care about that at the moment. He was thinking of how he was going to save Maria and Aeolus.

Graunx picked up Maria and held his blade against her throat. The reaction he got from Blazer was an audible gasp. He evilly smirked as he took a whiff of her scent. In his sick mind, he found pleasing.

"Men, looks like we're gonna have us a feast tonight!" he exclaimed. The ape soldiers filled the cave with excited hoots and screams as they beat their weapons against their shield and hopped about like idiots. "The dragon will be saved for dessert. Bring that trash forth."

At this point, Blazer was terrified and angry at the same time. He was dragged closer to the griffins. His eyes were held open by their hairy smelly hands. He was being forced to see them die and there was nothing he could do.

"D-Don't kill them." he croaked.

"And why should I not kill these two." Graunx sounded more demanding rather than questioning.

"It's me you wanted right? Let them go unscathed."

The large ape dropped Maria and cackled. He had to admit, the dragon was right. They were only hunting him. "But I wasn't the one who said that." He saw his pupils dilate. "And since the leader isn't here, I'm in charge and I say..." He faced the two colored griffin and grabbed her by the beak. "We dine big tonight!"

Blazer couldn't watch yet at the same time, he didn't want his foster siblings to die and he didn't want to either. He began thrashing about in a desperate attempt to save everyone including Dairu. Try as he can, his efforts were still vain. He saw the giant ape pull his curved blade back, preparing to decapitate the helpless avian. He begged and pleaded Graunx but his words were ignored. He could clearly see that the ape was enjoying every second of this. Whenever he took a fast swing at the head, Blazer would yell over the sound of the whistling blade. The dragon's heart felt as if it was ready to suddenly jump out of his chest. Instead of seeing Maria being decapitated, he would see her receive numerous cuts on her body. Each cut either being wider, longer, or deeper than the last depending on how freely the blood flow from the limp body. Eventually, Graunx had an expression that Blazer can guess; boredom. This was it.

"I think that's enough torture. I shall put them out of your misery whelp and you shall watch us slowly devour them...RIGHT...IN...FRONT...OF...YOUR...EYES."

Blazer couldn't take it anymore. Suddenly, he felt that expanding feeling inside him; then he heard a voice in his mind.

"_Unleash your power if you wish to save those precious to you. To do so, you must harness that power."_ It spoke in a voice so soft and gentle that it helped put him at ease. His mind was now focused on what the voice had told him. It was an easy task. It was as if it was being handed to him.

"Get away from my family!" And with that, he opened his mouth and fired a large dark blue beam. The beam came so fast that Graunx only had enough time to see before it hit him square in the chest and was sent flying into a wall. The unconscious Maria fell out of the apes grip. The smaller apes that held him released him and backed away. Free from their grasp, he quickly stood up and faced them. His emerald green eyes shone bright with determination and his heart burned with confidence as he stared down this enemies.

Graunx, who was at this point already joined the other soldiers, was exceedingly mad. One could imagine smoke coming out his ears.

"Kill that dragon! I want his head mounted in my room!" He shouted.

"You want? Come get yourself." Blazer spoke darkly.

"ATTACK!"

With his newfound strength, Blazer charged onto the sea of apes. He decapitated several apes with one claw swipe. Several tried to attack from the rear but they ended up being gutted alive by his tail blade. He ducked under a few horizontal slashes and some apes that flew over him and killed themselves on their comrade's weapons.

Soon, the air had reeked of rotting corpses and mercury. Blazer had pretty much taken out half of the enemies in a few minutes. He was feeling slightly exhausted but he pushed on. From time to time, he heard Graunx complaining about how useless his ape soldiers were. Blazer had enough of his whining and finally said, "If you think you can do better, then why don't you put your foot where mouth is!" All activity ceased and all the apes laughed while they stepped aside.

"You think I am a coward?" Graunx roared.

"Let's see...you stand in the back twiddling your thumbs, ordering your buddies to attack me, and complaining about how they're no good just like you. So...no, I don't think that you're a coward. I KNOW you are a coward." Blazer jumped to the side as the big ape leaped high in the air and tried to slash him. He then ducked under the scimitar as it whistled over his head. He quickly jumped back when he heard the other blade being pulled from its scabbard. It almost took his head clean off his shoulders but the tip nick him at his maw. He looked up to see Graunx's eyes. They were glowing with pure hatred towards him. He needed not to guess why. The best part was that his plan was working so far. He got the big lug to come out and fight. All he had to do was win the battle and he would send the apes packing.

"Now you shall see who the REAL coward is you pathetic little..."

"Blah blah just shut up already." Blazer interrupted. "You're boring me to tears with your talk."

"DIE YOU WHELP!" he dashed forward with his blades high over his head. As he brought them down, Blazer opens his mouth and tried to shoot another beam. Instead of a dark blue beam, he shot a small dark blue fireball like orb. It hit its mark and exploded. The blast was too close and both were sent flying in opposite directions into the wall. Both fighters grunted in pain from the collision. Blazer had a hard time trying to get back up. However, Graunx had already beaten him to it.

Aeolus began to stir at this point. His vision was blurry but he could hear what was happening right now.

"Well dragon, it appears you lose once more. So hold still while I kill you painfully." He heard Graunx say to Blazer. He also heard something else.

"Whazzat? A...a snake?" He mumbled which caught their attention.

"What did you say, Aeolus?" Blazer asked.

"I...hear a snake. But where?"

That's when the two fighters took the time to realise what he was saying. They listened. Hissing sounds were heard. They looked left and right but found nothing. Blazer listened closely. He heard several of them and it was coming from...Graunx? What did he have that could make several hissing sounds? A closer look at him showed that he had smoke trails rising from behind him. Graunx turned his body to his "weakling". The last thing Blazer didn't want to see made every scale and nerve he has stand on its ends. How could he forget? The dynamites! Graunx had been carrying them and that last attack had somehow ignited all of them. To make matters even more worse than it is, the fuse were short. If they tried to escape, Graunx would follow them until they blow. He couldn't just stand there. He had to do something and fast. He finally stood up and walked over to the two avians.

Aeolus looked up and saw the horrified expression on Blazer's face. The dragon whispered in his ear-hole.

"We have to go, NOW!" The strong emphasis on the last word was crystal clear. Aeolus didn't question and slowly stood. He shook the dizziness out of his head. His head and visions were back to normal. The next thing he saw was a shock to him. Graunx grabbed Blazer X by the neck in one hand and Maria in the other.

"If I go down I'm taking you all WITH ME!" He began to squeeze the life out of them. This act was cut short by Aeolus who rammed the ape in the gut; releasing the hold on the two siblings.

"Blazer, can you stand?" Aeolus asked. Sure enough, the dark blue dragon stood and weakly thanked his foster brother. "Listen, take Maria and go. I'll hold them off."

"Aeolus, are you insane?" Blazer exclaimed.

Before he could answer, Dairu weakly approached them. Both youngling mouthed "Dad" when they saw him.

"All of you...leave. I'll...hold." His voice sounded raspy and weak. There was no way to save him at this point and they knew it. Sadly, it was hard for Blazer and Aeolus to accept that.

"D-Dad. You can't. You just can't!" Aeolus cried.

Dairu slowly rose to his feet, his entrails hanging out of him. Everyone was surprise to see that he still had some fight in him.

"Go." Blazer hesitated at first, and then he placed Maria on his back and took off to the nearest path. Aeolus looked at his father with pleading eyes. He didn't want to lose him. Not like this.

"Aeolus...you...Maria...not be harsh on your brother. He has...no...family...and we...are the only...family he'll ever have. Protect...yourselves...and each other." Dairu said.

"Aeolus, let's go! This place is gonna blow!" Blazer's voice echoed from the path he took. Aeolus looked down it then back to his father.

"B-Bye father." He then left to catch up with Blazer. When he caught up with him, he saw a river of tears running down his face. He wanted to comfort him but now wasn't the best time.

"You ready?" The green griffin asked. The pain and sorrow of what was about to happen showed in his voice.

"Let's go." The dark blue dragon replied. Even though he showed how much he grieved for Dairu's sacrifice, he hid his voice well. Probably too focus on getting him and his foster sibling out alive. They both took off in a sprint down the long path. This path was unlike the one they took before. There were no crystals jutting out the walls and floor. Instead, there were some stalactites and stalagmites. Some of them were broken off but they were all covered with moss.

Back with Dairu, the avian had been gutted; save for the heart and lungs that his. No one knew why he was still alive after what he had gone through.

"No matter. There are more of us out there. They will kill those whelps of yours and that miserable dragon." Graunx said. "Your sacrifice will be nothing."

"You're wrong." Dairu weakly spoke. "They are...brave young kids. They...will conquer against...the evil that plagues this world. There is nothing...you, your men, and your master...can do about it."

"We shall see." Graunx walked under the griffin who was looking down the path the younglings ran down.

Dairu smiled weakly. "Farewell...my children. May the air gods protect you all...especially...young...Blazer...X." The second he finished, the flame on the fuses disappeared in the dynamites. The whole place was ignited in a giant ball of flames, swallowing all everyone alive and erasing them from existence.

Blazer and Aeolus heard the explosion that broke the silence. Aeolus quickly skidded to a stop but Blazer had to bring himself to a slow pace before stopping. He didn't want to risk Maria falling off him. They looked back. The pain of Dairu's loss intensified in Aeolus. Even the dark blue dragon felt the same. He hung his head low, tears welling up in his eyes and ready to flow freely. Something prevented him from doing so. He quickly lifted his head back up and his tears went back down.

"Aeolus?" He called out.

"He's...he's gone." The male griffin sobbed. Right now, Blazer would not mind comforting his brother, but something else was happening and he didn't like it.

"Do you smell that?" He asked.

Aeolus slightly lifted his head then lifted it up in the air. Something was burning. "I-I do." He croaked, wiping away his flowing tears. "But I also feel and hear the ground shaking a bit."

"That I do, too. I have a very bad feeling about this."

"Let's keep moving." He said, walking past the dragon.

Blazer didn't need to be reminded about that. He only took about ten steps when the whole cavern started to shake more violently. Stalactites fell around them and broke into pieces. They almost lost their balance and nearly got struck by a falling stalactite. Next, they felt a wave of heat slowly growing stronger. They turned to each other and then slowly looked behind. A bright orange light illuminated the darkness they trekked through.

"Oh shit, run. Run!" Blazer said. He and Aeolus took off in a sprint further down the path. Aeolus looked back and saw what they were running from. The cave moss that grew out the ground and clung onto the walls and ceiling were set ablaze. It was catching up to them

"We have to get away from the cave moss!" He shouted.

"This path as a lot of it! Just keep moving!"

The cave grew hotter and hotter with each second. Falling stalactites and other debris slowed them down a bit, allowing the torrent of flames to move in closer on them. Nevertheless, they still ran. They were doing good until the ceiling collapsed in front of them and blocked their path. Aeolus almost panicked at this but Blazer opened his mouth and launched several orbs at the obstacle. Shortly, the pile of fallen rocks gave away and the path was open once more. Aeolus was shock by this.

"Now is not the time! Move!" Blazer barked. They quickly bolted as some debris crashed at where they once were. The flames were much closer and the heat was almost unbearable at the moment. Both of them were exhausted; Blazer the most. His wounds from the apes were still open and his blood ran down his arms and legs. There were a few times he nearly lost consciousness but thanks to the adrenaline that coursed through him, he was always up. The heat went down slightly and a cool breeze blew from the front.

"We're getting closer! Keep moving!" Blazer shouted once more over the roaring flames that tailed them. They pushed themselves to the limits, slowly pulling away from the raging inferno from behind. They dodged a few more stalactites and other chunks of debris that threatened to flatten them underneath. There seemed to be no end to this. They hopes were slowly dwindling away until–

"Light! I see light at the end!" Blazer happily shouted.

"Come on! We're almost outta here!" Aeolus replied back. Because they pushed themselves to the limits, they gained quite a distance from the fire but the heat did not dwindle. They had to thank each other for all the times they would race through the forest or from their home to the river and back. This time, they weren't racing each other; they were racing against the fire.

The light was so bright, so enticing, the brother pushed themselves once more. But there was a problem; make that two. Blazer yelped when he slipped and fell forward. Maria, still unconscious, landed a few feet off to the side. He looked to see what the problem was. The blood that flowed down his forearms covered the bottom of his paws in blood. On top of that, he was running on moss. His blood acted as a lubricant which caused him to slip easily on the moss.

The second problem was right after Aeolus returned to his side and helped him up. The tremor became intense and they fell to either side. Loud cracks were heard from above. The entrance caved in quickly darkening the cavern that was being dimly lit by the flames in the back. Blazer pushed himself up and dashed towards the pile. He focused on harnessing his power but he felt nothing. He opened his mouth and tried to shoot it. All that escaped from him was a wheezed. He did it the second time, then the third. Same results.

"Hurry up and blast it!" Aeolus yelled. He now stood beside him with Maria on his back.

"I'm trying!" He yelled back. He kept trying and with every failed attempt, their fiery death came closer. They had to escape and fast and Aeolus' screaming wasn't helping Blazer one bit. "Gimme a break already! I not even sure how I was able to do it the first time!"

"Try something!"

Blazer reached over and smacked him in the head. "Now let me think!" As soon as he said that, a voice.

"_Calm yourself."_

Blazer looked around confused.

"What's wrong?" Aeolus inquired.

"I thought I heard a voice just now!" He answered.

"I think the heat is getting to you! Sooner we get out the better."

"_Calm yourself. There is still time left."_ It was the voice he heard earlier. In his mind. That voice helped him before and no doubt it was going to help him again. He closed his eyes and felt the flow of adrenaline stop. His muscles relaxed and his breathing was normal. _"Now search for your power; your element. It is neither gone or forgotten. Just lost and misplaced. Once you have found it, take it and let it expand."_

Blazer looked deep within him and found (more like felt) that same power he had before. He then felt it growing bigger and bigger; almost as if it was going to consume his body. Blazer opened his eyes.

Aeolus was mainly looking back, hoping that the flames didn't show. It was the opposite. It came. He was about to warn Blazer when he saw his eyes. They glowed an eerie blue around the green. All he could do was stare in awe.

Blazer felt it all; the power growing within him was ten times stronger than before. He opened his mouth as a small dark blue ball formed and swirled quickly grew five times its original size. He held it at that.

"_Now...release!"_ The voice shouted and it was gone.

Blazer's eyes flashed then narrowed. He slightly spread his legs and made sure he was firmly secured. A growl worked its way up his throat. Finally, he roared as he shot a powerful beam pierced through the rubble as if nothing was there. The blockade turned into pebbles. He and Aeolus used their wings as a shield from the pebbles that peppered them. When that was over, they rush out but they came to a quick stop at a cliff edge. They peered over and saw that they were in a forest with mushrooms of various height and sizes as well as a few trees.

"Now what genius? We don't know how to fly yet!" Aeolus complained.

Blazer had an idea alright. He backed up a few feet behind Aeolus.

"We don't." He took at top speed, leaped over his brother grabbing Maria in the process, and opened his wings. "We glide!"

Aeolus was startled by this but it was a good idea. He opened his feathery wings and pushed off the edge. He was glad he did it in time. The cave erupted with a burst of flame and rocks which didn't pose as a threat to them for they were out of reach of the falling debris. Seconds later, they were next to each other. They looked back at where they came from...and laughed.

"I never felt that rushed in my entire life!" Aeolus exclaimed.

"You and me both! What a rush!" Blazer hooted. "You should've seen the look on your face! You really freaked out in the end!"

"No I didn't!"

"Yes you did!"

The two brothers bickered back and forth; completely unaware of what was coming behind them until they heard wings flapping. They looked back and all they saw was a black and red creature that slammed into the brothers. Blazer nearly lost his grip on Maria as he and Aeolus screamed at the top of their lungs, spiralling out of control as they fell. They could not right themselves and they faster. Soon, they disappeared through the treetops. Then, there was silence.

* * *

**Yeah, sorry for the late update. I'd ramble on and with excuses as to why I am so late with this chapter but I won't. VEEEERRRYYY LONG story. No not this chapter...then again, 14 pages and almost 6,000 words type is pretty long to me. Anyway, I'm done here. Just one more thing.**

**See this button?**

**Yeah, that one.**

**Click it.**

**R & R PLZ :)**

**C U NEXT TIME!**

**V V V **


	7. Chapter 7

**Midnight (Me): Hey guys, sorry for not posting a new chapter. It's not easy doing multiple stories since it's possible to mix up story ideas. However, I was mainly in a block for this chapter, but here we are.**

**Maria: I am upset that I was dropped several times but I know it wasn't on purpose. Besides what happened in the previous chapter?**

**Blazer X: Aeolus was scared to death in the last chapter.**

**Aeolus: No I wasn't!**

**Blazer X: Yes you were! You were screaming like a little girl!**

**Aeolus: No!**

**Blazer X: Yes!**

**Aeolus: No!**

**Blazer X: Yes!**

**Aeolus: Yes!**

**Blazer X: Nice try Aeolus.**

**Aeolus: DAMMIT! XC**

**Maria: Well, this chapter is going to be fun. *turns to me***

**Me: In some way. Let's get this over with.**

**Maria: Midnight does not own Spyro characters. Only the OC's of the story who are Blazer X/Blazer, my dumb brother Aeolus...**

**Aeolus: Hey!**

**Maria: ...and finally me, Maria.**

**Blazer X: If you don't like this chapter, feel free to smack Aeolus in the face with a shovel.**

**Aeolus: Why you...! *accidentally steps on a rake and gets smacked in the face by the handle* Ow. *falls on back***

**Blazer X: A rake works fine too. ^w^**

Chapter 5

Everything was dark and quiet. Something was different. Maria is barely conscious at the moment though she couldn't see where she was. She felt exhausted for some reason. The fight with the apes may have–wait a minute. Her brothers...and father! She tried to force herself up but couldn't move her body in any way.

"...be...ay?"

"...on...ell...some..."

She heard someone yet she was unable to make out what was being said. It sounded close by, or was it far away? She couldn't tell. Slowly, her conscious was returning but she had to wonder what she would find upon waking up. She was able to hear a little better and tried to listen in on the talk.

"The...gon looks...purple."

"They...at the front...ple."

"I fear...for them."

Maria was disappointed with hearing broken up sentences but she made an assumption that it was about her and her brothers. Perhaps they were safe. She needed to know what happened while she was unconscious. She groaned as she struggled to stand but found that she couldn't. Not only was she mysteriously exhausted but her entire body ached uncontrollably. She groaned again but this time it was out of pain. She heard the nearing thuds of heavy footsteps hitting the floor. Her eyes were still closed but she heard and felt someone breathing beside her ear hole.

"Young gryphon, don't strain yourself. Rest yourself." the voice was a male. Something about his voice sort of reminded Maria of Dairu. She was not quite sure if she really heard her father that time but she mumbled something to the unknown person before her conscious decided to drift away.

0-0-0-0-0

The place felt cold; not winter cold but more like night time cold. Maria groggily woke up and slowly viewed her surroundings. There wasn't much to see. There was a window where the morning sunlight slowly warmed the place, a fireplace, a sleeping dragon and gryphon, and – wait, what? She looked to her left and saw Blazer and Aeolus on their side. To her they were sleeping peacefully but they were really unconscious. She slowly rose to her feet and made her way to the door. She slowly examined it for she has never seen a door. She and her family lived in a cave for a long time and they never seen a door before. She pushed it but it did not move. She knew that pulling it won't help for there was nothing for her to pull. The window would be a great exit but there was just one problem with that idea: Size Difference. There was absolutely no way Maria could possibly fit through a small window. She decided to wait until someone came in or when her brothers wake up. Fortunately, she didn't have to wait long. Blazer groaned as he began to stir as well as Aeolus. Both groggily stood up with their head in their paw.

"Ow, my head. It feels like I ran into the side of a mountain." Aeolus groaned.

"Yeah, well, it feels like I ran into several of them." Blazer whined.

Maria chuckled at how they were acting. This caused them to look her way and she wasn't expecting what was coming at her. They nearly knocked her down as they rushed her and gave her a tight hug.

"Maria! Thank goodness you're alive!"

"Yes yes now let me go. I can barely breathe here." her brothers let her go. "You guys really missed me?"

"If that the dynamite actually killed you I would be stuck with this knucklehead." Blazer joked, tilting his head towards Aeolus.

"Am not." Aeolus shot back.

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are not."

"Am too and you know it."

Blazer and Maria suddenly burst with laughter, not caring who heard them. It took a split second for the green griffin to realise that he was tricked into admitting that he was an idiot.

"I am going to kill you...VERY slowly."

Maria, at this point, suddenly remembers something.

"What happened to those things we fought?"

The question struck Blazer and Aeolus like a brick wall. Their facial quickly changed to a more sadden one. How were they going to explain that their father gave his life for us to escape? If she was to know, there was no doubt that she would blame Blazer and try to kill him. They could lie to her and say that he was captured–no. If they did, they probably wouldn't live long enough to regret it. The only problem was who was going to tell her. Blazer opened his mouth but before he could say a word, the door slid open and behind it revealed an adult male red dragon. The trio took their fighting stances as the dragon walked in.

"There is no need to be alarmed young ones. You are all safe." he said with a calm demeanour. His calming words were enough to make the kids lower their guards. "I am relieved to see you all alive and well. You all were injured, save for the young dragon there." he turned towards Blazer. "You were gravely injured. Had we not found you outside the temple–"

"Temple?" Blazer interrupted.

"We?" Aeolus questioned.

"Who are you?" Maria asked.

The red dragon chuckled slightly. "Slow down, one question at a time. First of all, my name is Ignitus, the fire dragon and..."

"Ignitus? Where are you?" a new voice called out of nowhere. It sounded like a young kid.

"I'm with the three we found. They're awake." Ignitus replied.

Seconds later, there were claws tapping on the floor as a young male dragon suddenly came running beside Ignitus. The dragon had amethyst eyes, a purple body, and his horns, wings, tail spade and underbelly were a golden color. Next to him was a bright small light.

"That good to hear." he said to Ignitus before turning to the trio. "How do you guys feel?"

"Listen to yourself. They're perfectly fine, I mean just look." the light that was floating in front the purple dragon got swatted away by his paw.

"Ignore my annoying brother Sparx. By the way, I'm Spyro."

"I'm Aeolus. Over there is my sister Maria and the dark blue dragon between us is our foster brother Blazer X. Our father named him but we prefer to call him Blazer instead."

The light flew in front of Blazer. It was a dragonfly. "Blazer Instead? What a weird name."

"Hardy Har. Real funny Tinkerbelle." Blazer said. He heard Spyro laughing.

"He got you good with that Sparx – I mean...Tinkerbelle." Spyro said in between his laughs.

A loud *AHEM* from Ignitus caught everyone's attention.

"There will be time for you all to become acquainted but now it is not. First of all, Blazer's wing must be put back into place."

Blazer didn't know what he was talking about until he decided to move his wings a bit. Instantaneously, he felt pain ripping through his left wing joint and course throughout his body. He figured that it became dislocated from a bad landing. How bad it was was beyond him. Blazer was almost nervous about having his wing put back in place but it had to be done or else he'll never fly through the air, let alone glide.

"Let's get this over with then." he suddenly said.

Ignitus was a bit surprised by this. "Are you sure? The pain may be too much for you to handle." he stated.

"Make it quick."

"Alright then. Lay flat on your front." Blazer did as he was instructed. Ignitus told Spyro, Aeolus and Maria to hold him down in case he jumped from excruciating pain. He noticed the young dragon cringed when Maria gently brushed it by accident. If Blazer was moving to the slightest touch, then this was going to hurt him a lot. When that was done, he used his forepaws to firmly grip the damaged wing, causing the dragon to convulse a bit.

"Sparx, you may want to cover your ears just in case." Spyro suggested. Sparx saw his brother saying something to him but he couldn't hear since he had his ears covered.

"Brace yourself." Ignitus reminded. Of course, the dark blue dragon didn't need to be reminded. With one swift motion, he pulled on the wing then quickly pushed it back in place with a loud POP.

Ignitus wasn't joking when he said it would hurt. Blazer practically roared in pain when his wing was popped back into place. It was so painful, he nearly blacked out from it.

As for Maria, she felt sick. Since she was closer to Blazer's wing, she still heard the wing being put back into place over the shrilling scream from her brother.

Everyone moved back so that Blazer could stand. He was a bit shaky but he struggled to stay up.

"S-S-See? N-Not...a...prob...lem." he panted.

"Whatever you say brother." said Aeolus.

0-0-0-0-0

Ignitus had given them some food whilst Spyro and Sparx had to leave. They had to go rescue some dragon in a place called Dante's Freezer. This place was totally new to the three youngsters. Blazer on the other hand didn't care about that. His concern was how was Maria going to handle the truth? Also, he wanted to know what was happening in the world, why the ape creatures wanted him dead, and what was that attack he had used when he and his brother were escaping from the fire that chased them in the cave. Ignitus must have seen his troubled expression for he had suddenly questioned him about what was on his mind. Even Blazer wasn't sure about how to go about what has happened so far.

"Ignitus...can you tell me something?" he asked.

"And whatever might that be young Blazer?"

Blazer sighed. He knew that with Maria around, something was bound to happen...to him.

"We...were attack by these strange creatures that called themselves apes. They wanted me dead for some unknown reason. Before anything else is said," Blazer turned to Maria with a sorrowful look. "Maria? Father...gave his life...so that we can escape."

"What?" The males flinched at the sudden out burst from Maria.

"It's true Maria. I begged father not to do it but he had made up his mind." Aeolus said.

"LIAR! THIS IS ALL BLAZER'S FAULT! NOW WE LOST BOTH MOM AND DAD! EVER SINCE HE HATCHED, LIFE WAS HARSH!" she swung a claw at Blazer but it was easily avoided.

"Calm yourself, Maria!" Blazer shouted as he dodged a few more swipes of her sharp eagle-like claws. After the battle he had against the apes, his speed increased a bit which made dodging easier; just as long as he doesn't make a mistake with his footing. Ignitus and Aeolus tried to stop her by either blocking her path or trying to grab her but she'd always move around them. However, their attempts had somewhat gave him an idea. He just had to wait for someone, preferably Ignitus, to stand between him and his sister. Thankfully, he got just that when was backed into a corner.

Maria was enraged. Her eyes were burning with hatred towards Blazer. It's as if she was possessed by some dark spirit. Not only that, she would become even angrier when Ignitus and Aeolus tried to prevent her from hurting the young dragon or worse. She kept attacking and missing until Blazer was backed into a corner. Maria dash at him but Ignitus was quick to cut her off but she just went around him. As she did, she was tackled by Blazer and was held in a tight hug.

Blazer used his forearms to hold Maria in a tight hug in a way that prevented her from using her claws as well as her biting or pecking at him. She struggled to break out of his grip but he would not let up.

"Maria," he spoke softly. "There was nothing we could do. He wanted us to live a happy life. I may not have met mom but I'm sure she would say the same."

"Shut up Blazer!" she screeched.

"Is this what they wanted to see? Would mom and dad be happy with you killing me?" those words earned a soft gasp from her. He loosened his grip on her a bit. "Please Maria, think about how they would act if they knew of this."

Aeolus and Ignitus watched with confusion as to what Blazer was doing. Shortly, they saw Maria place her head on his shoulder as she cried softly.

Blazer had at this point loosened his grip and was just giving her a comforting hug. He could see the pain that was buried in her. Of course, Blazer had felt the same but when she blamed him for the loss of both parents, well that's like someone ripping your heart out and replacing it with a scorching hot rock. He turned his head to Ignitus and Aeolus and back to Maria.

"Maria, you want us to continue telling what happened in the cave?" he asked.

She lifted her head and nodded.

0-0-0-0-0

The story of what happened continued and this time Maria didn't make any attempts to hurt her brothers. However, there was one part of the story that confused the young group but made Ignitus worried. When Blazer mentioned how he overheard one of the apes conversing, he had heard them say something about not telling Cynder about him but should explain it to another dragon.

"Another dragon works with the Dark Master." Ignitus said out loud.

"Ignitus? What's going on? Who is this Dark Master?" Blazer questioned.

The fire dragon turned his head away from him and replied, "No one you should worry about."

Hearing this sort of made Blazer mad. Though his face didn't show it but was slightly noticeable in his voice. "What do you mean by that?"

"You are nothing a young dragon. The Dark Master, Cynder, and whoever is with them are by far powerful enemies. There is no way you can win against them. Only a purple dragon like Spyro is capable of taking on such an enemy."

"Ignitus," Blazer called, sounding more ticked than he already is. "Our parents are dead, we barely escaped from those apes, and you want us to sit back swishing our tails while Spyro takes on every enemy on his own?"

"He's right Ignitus." Maria stepped forward. "We may not be experienced fighters but we can't just sit back and do nothing."

Ignitus seemed a bit frustrated by the two. For he decided to drop the conversation by telling them at they can't leave. Aeolus had joked about how nice the meeting was and got slapped in the back of the head by Blazer's and Maria's wings. At that point, Ignitus came back in with the same expression when he left.

"Is that ALL that happened in your story?" he questioned.

Somehow, Blazer didn't feel like responding after what had happened but something made him think otherwise.

"Blazer," Aeolus was whispering to him. "Tell him about the big EXIT."

"What?"

"You know, our big EXIT just before...you know."

"No I don't. What are you talking about?"

Aeolus just sighed and reminded his brother about his breath. Of course! Blazer had forgotten about his performance in Crystal Cave with his unknown breath. Maybe Ignitus could help somehow.

"Ignitus, while at Crystal Cave, I did something I never–"

"You breathed your element." the guardian jumped in. "By the way, exactly what is your element?"

"I don't know. I shot a blue beam and a blue ball of some kind."

Ignitus was curious about his element. "Really? Now this you have to show me. Please, come with me."

**Midnight (ME): Okay, I think I'll wrap it up around here for now. *hears Blazer, Maria and Aeolus laughing* Hey, what's so funny? *walks in the living room and sees a cartoon* Oh, those two! *chuckles* They're hilarious together.**

**Blazer X: Very true. How's the chapter by the way?**

**Me: Great. Especially when it has a slight reference to that cartoon in it.**

**Aeolus: Really?**

**Maria: I bet he's the stupid one. *points to Aeolus***

**Aeolus: Not me.**

**Maria: Yes you.**

**Aeolus: Not me.**

**Maria: Yes you.**

**Aeolus: Not me.**

**Maria: Not you.**

**Aeolus: YESMESTUPID! ...wait, I...**

**Blazer & Maria: Too late! * laughs as they run***

**Aeolus: #$% *chases after them***

**Me: Anyway, readers, just so you know, this story has nothing to do with "The Midnight Dragon" story I have on Deviant Art in any way whatsoever. I say this because I got several emails asking me if it was. Also, he won't be using the elements from that story. The next chapter is in progress and I did not give his breath an element. I will let you all decide the name of the element Blazer X used in the previous chapter. I might put your suggestions in a poll. Anyways, I better stop Aeolus. *set down a rake and hides* You guys can guess what happens here and the next chapter will have Blazer learning about his element that you people named. Oh, here they come. Gotta go!**

**R & R Please!**

**Midnight Out!**


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